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Friday, May 12, 2017

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword

By George M. Thomas

Charlie Hunnam in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

There’s no mistaking that KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD
possesses the flourishes fans come to expect from a Guy Ritchie film.

There’s that pay-attention-or-you’ll-miss-it dialogue. There are those explanatory sequences where
the director of the Sherlock Holmes films and SNATCH takes the audience back to
the near past to something not previously seen. And there’s the quick pace.

Given the seriousness that past stories of King Arthur, the
monarch of British legend, have displayed (think 1981’s EXCALIBUR), a film that
clocks in at less than two hours and 15 minutes is unheard of. But KING ARTHUR’s brisk two hours and six minutes fly because of those attributes.

Ultimately, that fact contributes to what’s a pure piece of
escapism. Some might see trappings of a
political statement in what is Ritchie’s modernization of Arthurian legend, but
at its core it’s a mostly enjoyable trip to medieval England where a despot
rules the land.

King Vortigen (Jude Law) ascends to the throne after selling
his soul to have the power to vanquish his older brother. He slays his brother
(King Uther, played by Eric Bana) and sister-in-law, but his young nephew
escapes to one of the seedier sections of England and grows up in a brothel,
unaware of his heritage.

Complicating Vortigen’s plans: he needs Excalibur, a sword
of unlimited power, but Uther ensures that his brother is unable to get his
grubby paws on it by implanting it in a stone.

In the meantime, Vortigen grows crueler and more paranoid through
the years, worried that someone will eventually pull the sword from the rock
upending his claim to the throne.

Perhaps his thugs in armor should have left Arthur (Charlie
Hunnam) and his bros to their devices, then. Instead, Arthu is forced to attempt to pull the
sword from the stone because Vortigen wants to weed out possible threats to the
throne.

Yeah, big oops.

Arthur is the chosen one.
But of course the young guy, who’s basically been living it up, doesn’t
want the responsibility. He’s a
reluctant ruler and it takes a whole lot of convincing to get him on board with
his destiny.

There’s magic.
There’s mirth. There are mammoth
battles and a lot of fun. Just don’t
expect much in the way of intellectual heft, which makes KING ARTHUR typical
summer fare.

It helps that Hunnam is infinitely likeable in the lead role
and gets to have some fun. Ditto for Law
who chews the scenery as Vortigen.

KING ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD is pure entertainment for
those not looking for something involving guardians.

Movie: KING
ARTHUR: LEGEND OF THE SWORD

Director: Guy Ritchie

Cast: Charlie Hunnam, Jude Law, Djimon Honsou

Studio: Warner Bros.

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of violence and
action, some suggestive content and brief strong language.